Dragon Rider
by Aria6
Summary: Roxas is a trainee Dragon Knight looking for his dragon. What he finds is Axel. What adventures will they have? Fantasy AU. Please read and review!
1. Chapter 1

"Hey shrimp!" Roxas growled to himself as he swung at the practice target. "Harder! Harder you little bitch!"

"Shut it." He muttered inaudibly. The last thing he wanted was for his arms trainer to hear him. He'd wish for death before the day was over if that happened.

He was in the practice yard of the Dragon Court. The sound of grunts, shouts and weapons clashing on weapons filled the air. Dark dust rose from the ground as warriors practiced their footwork and clashed blunted weapons against shields. In some ways, mastery of the skills of warfare was absolutely vital for a Dragon Knight. In other ways it was a secondary skill. Their main skill was the art and craft of dealing with dragons and riding them into battle. That required excellent physical fitness and most of the trainees were tall and ruggedly strong.

Roxas was not. He was short and sinewy rather than bulky. The Dragon Master had assured him that height and bulk were not necessary for dragon riding and the second could even get in the way. But nothing could save Roxas from the judgment of his peers and he'd been called names ranging from baby face to little boy. Coming from boys two years younger than him it was very hard to take. That was why he was so determined to be successful on his first dragon hunt.

Capturing a dragon hatchling was very difficult. It would have been absolutely impossible if the dragons themselves hadn't consented to it. Roxas still didn't quite understand why they did so, but dragons were natural shape shifters. If approached and challenged, dragon hatchlings would meet a human in single combat. If the human won or just put up a good enough fight, the hatchling would consent to be ridden as a mount and partner. However, dragons had a great pride in themselves and it took a lot to impress them. All trainees were given five tries to find and catch a dragon… each try consisting of an entire month in the wilderness, food and drink being supplied by a magical pouch. Very few managed to catch their dragon on the first try.

That made it all the more important that Roxas get his dragon the first time. He wanted to finally prove himself. The thought lent energy to his swing and he hit the target harder, feeling the sweat trickling down his face and stinging a scrape on his cheek. He had to be the best. He just had to! He would make his mother proud of him –

"I said enough!" Roxas blinked and lowered his weapon as he realized the instructor had been yelling at him for a while. "Are you deaf? Go do your stretches!" Roxas flushed and began putting his equipment away, carefully cleaning the armor and practice blade. A quick glance at the sky told him it was nearly time for lunch. He followed the rest of the boys into the lunch hall and took his customary seat.

The familiar rowdy chatter grated on his nerves. Particularly the nervous edge to it. They were starting out in a week and everyone was on edge, particularly the older boys who desperately needed to catch a dragon soon. If they didn't succeed by the fifth try they could stay in the citadel as support crew. They always needed support crew – it was completely unglamorous and hard work. None of the boys wanted it. Roxas ignored the familiar taunting with ease and ate well but not to full. If he fell asleep in class the instructors could and would belt him with a ruler.

"I don't know why they'd send a babe out with us." One of the older boys said contemptuously and Roxas glanced up with a frown. "Weren't you supposed to have been held back a year blondie? You really think you can catch a dragon?"

"Worry about yourself Xiphon. This is your last year, isn't it?" Roxas knew the taunt was unwise but couldn't resist making it. The other boy flushed in anger. "Hope you get lucky."

"I have a better chance than you." The older boy snarled back and was about to continue but a floor warden cleared her throat. That reminder made all the boys concentrate on their food. They didn't want to catch the attention of the adults. Now would be a very poor time to end up on punishment detail.

The days stretched endlessly, but finally the week was over and all the kits were ready for them. Roxas picked up his pack and hefted it, reassured by the weight. It included everything he could possibly need, including a basic first aid kit, a hatchet and firestarting supplies. Also the magical pouch that could give him a three grain cakes and a flask of water a day. That was enough to keep him and the other boys alive but not healthy and there were fish-hooks and snare rope in the packs as well. It would be up to them to live off the land, but their training had included that. Roxas was relatively confident in his ability to keep himself fed.

"Assemble!" The bull throated roar filled the courtyard and Roxas quickly took his spot in the yard. He was in the third row, fifth back and could hardly see anything over the other boy's heads. But he could hear the voice of the Dragon Master clearly.

"Today is the first day of the Trial of the Dragon." A faint sigh rippled through the boys and Roxas' could hear the amusement in the Dragon Master's voice. "I know I will never convince you of this, but it is not the end of the world to not find a dragon. Even for those of you who are on your fifth trial, failure is not disgrace. Successful or not, you will all be welcomed into our ranks. Now go, and find your fate." Not the most inspiring of speeches, Roxas reflected as the great wooden doors to the castle opened ponderously and the boys filed out. Dragons danced through the air, ridden by their elders and Roxas glanced up at them hopefully.

Soon, perhaps, he would be on one of them.

* * *

"Ugh." Roxas scratched himself, pausing for a moment to take a swig from his water bottle. "Where are all the dragons?" He asked a songbird. It didn't reply, preening itself instead.

It was spring in the Allerian mountains. The wind was crisp and cool but not cold, even at night. The great pine forests were interspersed with massive rocks and Roxas had already done more than his fair share of climbing. In fact, he had aimed for those rocks. He and all the boys like him knew everything there was to know about dragons and one of the places they could typically be found was sunning themselves on rocks. They could also be encountered at rivers and streams, where they liked to drink and bathe. Roxas had found a small pond and considered staying, but what if a dragon never came?

"Luck." Roxas muttered to himself then sighed. One of his teachers had told them that catching a dragon was nine parts hard work and one part luck. The luck simply being finding a hatchling in the first place. At this rate he wasn't going to even get the chance to –

Roxas froze as he heard a decidedly unnatural sound. It sounded like a saw hitting a log of timber and he knew exactly what it was. He'd heard it plenty of times when he'd helped clean out the great 'stables' the dragons lived in.

"Thank you lady luck." He breathed as he quickly moved towards the snoring dragon. If he was lucky it was a hatchling. If he wasn't he could still politely question the adult and if his elders were correct, it would point him in the direction of some hatchlings. Adult dragons would sometimes consent to a duel, but only with an adult Dragon Knight who had lost his partner. They would refuse a trainee.

As soon as he saw the dragon Roxas felt his breath catch. The hatchling was beautiful. Most dragons were the velvety green of forest moss or the dark blackish blue of a deep seam of coal but they could come in a variety of more colorful shades and Roxas had found a rare one. The dragon's scales shone a beautiful, vibrant red and the softer skin of her muzzle and around her eyes was pitch black. Spiky red hair made a peculiar mane, flowing out behind her horns. Wait, horns? Roxas suddenly swallowed as he realized he'd sexed the dragon wrong. Male dragons were _rare_. But females had only tiny, vestigial horns and there was nothing small about these. Almost a metallic gold, they curled back into spiky red hair and made for a very impressive display.

But despite all the beauty of the dragon, he was certainly a hatchling. There was an ungainly adolescent quality about him, as if his body hadn't quite grown into the massive size of his wings yet. It detracted from his appearance and Roxas was sure that in a few years he'd be even more beautiful. Taking a deep breath, Roxas considered how to go about catching the dragon. He was the youngest and the weakest so he would need to be clever. His gaze fell on a small, scrubby tree poking out of the space between rocks and he thought of something. Would it work? And more importantly, would the dragon hear him? He could only try. Roxas went through his bag, pulling out the hatchet and a length of rope. Then he quickly began chopping at the base of the tree. The dragon stirred but to his relief, didn't waken. Roxas worked until the tree was almost ready to topple then tied the rope around the bottom branches of the tree. Then he put everything away and got out his shield and sword. Taking a deep breath, he got ready to challenge the dragon.

"Dragon! I challenge you!" He shouted. Another log ripping snore. "Dragon!" Still nothing. Roxas bit his lip, wondering if he should go up and kick the dragon? But that would be disrespectful. "Dragon!" The snores finally stuttered and the dragon blinked, to his relief. Roxas noticed that his eyes were a beautiful green, the shade of fresh cut grass. The dragon lifted his head, glancing around until his eyes finally lighted on the small blonde.

"Well, hello there. Are you lost?" Roxas bristled at the amusement in the dragon's voice but he did like the sound of it. It was a warm, friendly sound. "Or are your people sending children out to catch dragons now?"

"I'm fifteen." He snarled and the dragon laughed before shaking himself and standing. Roxas swallowed as he saw how large he was. The male hatchling was twice the size of a horse and quite a bit larger than the females. Of course, that would be even better if he could catch the dragon! No one could sneer at him as a baby with a dragon like this. Roxas felt his resolve firming. This would be his dragon.

"Your first time then. Well, I won't make this easy for you." With that the dragon changed. Roxas had to avert his eyes from the stomach churning _shift_ and when he glanced back there was a man standing on the stones. A very tall man, lanky but well-muscled, with flame red hair and a ready smile. He was wearing a black robe that looked far too hot for the spring weather, but then, dragons didn't feel the heat. He hefted strange weapons, circles of steel like nothing Roxas had seen before. "I'm Axel."

"I'm Roxas." The blonde replied cautiously and Axel smiled.

"Nice to meet you, Roxas. Now defend yourself!" Then the man was running right at him. Roxas was quickly thrown on the defensive by the lightning series of attacks but then gathered himself. He was going to win!

It wasn't easy. The dragon's fighting style was like nothing Roxas had ever experienced before, all quick attacks and lightning feints. But Axel was weak on defense and Roxas rapped him soundly in the ribs, making the redhead grin.

"Not bad kid." Roxas wished for a moment that his weapons were enchanted. Dragon hide was as tough as plate and couldn't be penetrated by anything else. He'd have loved to wipe the smirk off the redhead's face! But he would manage that anyway. Axel was preoccupied with the battle and hadn't noticed that Roxas was moving away from him in a particular direction. He'd just seen that Roxas was backing off and that moved him to pursue, which was exactly what the blonde wanted. When he was close enough he dove to the side and grabbed the rope, giving it a powerful yank. Axel was still following him when the sound of cracking wood reached him and he turned just as the tree toppled. The redhead's eyes widened and he tried to dive out of the way but it was too late. The scrubby little tree landed on him with the sound of snapping branches and Roxas grinned.

"I win!" He said, hoping the dragon would see it that way. Underhanded tricks weren't supposed to be part of duels, but using the landscape wasn't really cheating, was it? Then his grin faded as the dragon didn't stir. "…Oh shit." Had he killed the dragon? This kind of thing wasn't supposed to be fatal! Roxas hesitated a moment then went to the tree, pulling away broken branches. Surely the redhead couldn't be dead. He was a dragon! His skin was hard as plate, he could fly and breathe fire. Roxas couldn't have killed him with a tree –

"Ow." The muffled sound made the blonde slump a bit in relief. The tree shifted and Roxas had to scramble back as the dragon suddenly resumed his natural form. Axel shook his wings, shedding bits and pieces of bark and leaves. "Are you trying to catch me or kill me? My head hurts." The red dragon added, working on preening out more branches. Roxas hesitated and then carefully helped Axel with his grooming.

"I still won." He said stubbornly and looked up the dragon as Axel chuckled. The dragon snorted his hair, making the blonde blink and wince. Axel's breath wasn't very nice, thanks to the fluids and magic that let him breath fire.

"You're sneaky. I like that. Alright, I'm yours." That nasty twisting sensation filled the air again and then the man was standing beside him again. Roxas smiled as he saw a few twigs in his hair, reaching out to pull them free. Axel smiled at him. "So where are we going?"

"Back to the citadel. I'll show you." Roxas knew the way. He was accomplished at wilderness survival and knew all the landmarks of the woods. And if that failed, he had a compass and map. Inwardly exulting, he started off, the dragon trailing behind him.

A dragon on his first try. The other boys would be green with envy. And his mother would be so proud!

* * *

"Roxas. You're the first back." The gate guard, a large woman with cornflower blonde hair, sounded disapproving. Then she looked behind him and her eyes widened "Is this…?" She sounded amazed as Axel grinned at her and Roxas swelled with pride.

"This is Axel. He's my dragon." He said happily and Axel laughed before winking at the gate guard.

"I'd say Roxas is my human, but either way works." Roxas blushed as she laughed, letting them both in the smaller door set in the side of the wall. The great doors were for carts, formal events and dragons. Axel glanced around curiously and Roxas was sure the dragon had never seen humans or their dwellings before. He was only a hatchling, after all. Roxas glanced around too, really looking at the castle for the first time in years.

The castle was a huge building with tall, strong walls to repel any attack. The great dragon stables filled a good half of the space, great buildings of wood and thatch. The rest of the castle was made of grey stone and pennants were hung on the walls, snapping in the wind. The only break in the drab stone was the stained glass windows of the chapel on the third floor. The practice yard was much emptier than usual since all the trainees were gone, but young Dragon Knights were still at practice. Many of them looked at him curiously and a few even waved. One boy with brown hair gave him a friendly salute and Roxas blinked. Just a week ago none of the Dragon Knights would have acknowledged his existence.

_Of course they are. I'm a Dragon Knight too now. _Roxas shook himself out of his daze and returned the waves with a smile before gently touching Axel's shoulder.

"Let's go see the Dragon Master." He would need to welcome Axel and introduce Roxas to whatever Dragon Knight would be his mentor. For beginning Knights, the training was all one on one although more than one senior Knight might help depending on what a junior needed to learn. Axel nodded but glanced over at the stables. He was interested in meeting the other dragons and could smell them already.

When he reached the Master's office the elderly Knight was already waiting for them, a pleasant smile on his face. His eyes widened slightly as he saw Axel and he offered the dragon a hand.

"Greetings." He said as they shook hands, his tone warm. "I must admit, I wasn't expecting this. Are you related to Leah?" Axel blinked at that, surprised.

"He's my brother actually. You know him?" The redhead said cautiously as Roxas watched, surprised. He hadn't expected the Dragon Master to know any of Axel's family. The old Knight laughed, gesturing them to sit.

"He was my dragon, in my youth." Axel gave a small ooh sound of surprise and looked at the Master with wide eyes. "I'm sure he's told you many stories. I assure you, he tends to exaggerate." The Master sounded a little pained and Axel suddenly grinned. "You have the look of him." Roxas thought he heard a hint of sadness in the Master's voice. Did he miss his old dragon? But if a Dragon Knight was fortunate enough to live long enough to retire, their dragon departed for the mountains to live with the other dragons and raise a clutch. They often departed if their Knight was killed as well, but not always.

"Thank you." Axel said, running a hand through his hair. "It's this shaggy mane, all the men in my family have it." The Master nodded and looked at Roxas.

"Roxas, since you've had the good fortune to find a male dragon, I think it's fitting that you be mentored by one of the few other Dragon Knights to have a male dragon." Roxas nodded. He knew there was only perhaps three other Knights with male dragons but he didn't know their names. "The Knight is named Sora and his dragon is Riku." Roxas glanced at Axel but the redhead shook his head. He didn't know Riku. "You'll find him in the third stable." Roxas nodded and stood. He was ready to go. The Dragon Master smiled faintly. "And welcome to the ranks of the Dragon Knights."

"Thank you sir!" Roxas said, his heart swelling again. He smiled brilliantly as he left the office.

Everything was going wonderfully.

* * *

Axel settled down into his stall with a sigh.

The dragon stable was vaguely like a horse stable, but only vaguely. It was partitioned off to give the dragons a bit of privacy and to establish 'nests' for each dragon. Otherwise they would have been constantly snapping at each other. Only real babies lived in a pile, and all the dragons here were adolescents.

Axel rubbed his face against the floor for a moment, enjoying the coarse texture of the stone against his skin. One important way the dragon stables differed from horse stables was the flooring. It was rough textured, sandstone like material that caught and absorbed heat well. In the winter Axel knew the humans would use magic to heat it. The dragons in the caves of his home used their fire breath in a similar way, to warm the stone. Dragons loved heat and while they could tolerate cold, a cold sleeping area would make them miserable like nothing else.

"Are you hungry sir?" A very high voice spoke and Axel lifted his head, startled. He found himself gazing at a very blonde girl wearing gear similar to what Roxas' had worn when he met him. But he tentatively judged her age around ten. She had to be a trainee. Leah had told him that girls rarely became Dragon Knights but there were always some, usually the children of Knights. She was carrying a wheelbarrow filled with meat and Axel licked his lips, his nostrils flaring at the scent of blood and raw flesh.

"Yes please." He said politely and she pushed over the wheelbarrow, dumping it onto the hard stone. From the stains on the floor that was the usual procedure and Axel didn't mind. His home roost had identical marks where the females brought in their kills. "Thank you." He said before he began to bolt down the meat. She bobbed her head before taking her wheelbarrow to fetch more meat for the other dragons.

"Hey there." Axel glanced up, suppressing an instinctive desire to remove the face from the dragon talking to him. Dragons never liked to be interrupted when they were eating. It was the dragon to his left and he was standing and gripping the partition with his front legs, peering over it easily. Axel examined him thoughtfully, struck by his coloring. The stranger was pure white with a very silvery mane and horns that looked like ivory. His aqua-marine eyes were very striking against so much white. Then something occurred to him and he blinked.

"Oh! You must be Riku." Axel said and inwardly cursed himself for being thick. Of course this was Riku. Sora and Roxas had gone off to discuss human things and no one had formally introduced him to the other dragon. Riku chuckled softly.

"Yes, that's me. How did Roxas catch you? I would never have thought he would get a dragon on his first try, let alone one as strong looking as you." Axel took the compliment with grace. He was strong looking and knew it. Several of the prettier, stronger females in the stables were already quietly flirting with him. Axel fully intended to court a few of them as soon as he'd gotten used to the place. Dragon fertility depended a great deal on heat and this place was just too cold for him to impregnate any of them so love play would be nothing but play.

"He dropped a tree on me." Axel answered and Riku's ears tilted forward in surprise, then flattened into his mane. Dragon faces weren't at all expressive but their ears and tails were very expressive indeed and Riku was shocked. "Pretty clever. My head still hurts." He hadn't revealed it to Roxas but on the walk back he'd been suffering from pain all through the back of his head. Axel reached up to tentatively touch the area and winced. It was still very tender.

"You're lucky you weren't seriously injured." Axel flicked his ears in agreement. What Roxas hadn't known was that the hardness of dragon hide provided very little protection against blunt force trauma. That was why bad landings could be a serious danger for young hatchlings. "Are you feeling okay?" Riku sounded concerned and Axel laughed before gulping down more of his meal.

"I'm fine. It just feels strained. I'd rather not fly for a little while though." The movements of flying would strain those muscles more. Riku nodded, dropping down so Axel couldn't see him anymore. But he could still hear the white dragon.

"I'll mention that to Sora. It shouldn't be a problem." Riku assured him and Axel nodded. "What's your lineage?" That was the usual question and Axel readily complied, reciting a list of his ancestors until he hit one they had in common. "Alfrana was my _Scheetra._" Riku sounded pleased. That particular word had no human equivalent. The closest Axel could come to was sister of my grandmother's cousin. And he wasn't sure if that was correct. Riku fulfilled his half of the ritual by telling Axel about his heritage. Axel listened carefully, reflecting on how the day had gone.

He had a cute, resourceful little human for a Dragon Knight and the stables were comfortable and so far the company seemed good. Everything was going well.


	2. Doin' Your Mom?

"I'm so proud of you baby." Roxas smiled at his mother as she gently squeezed his shoulder. "I wish your father were here to see you." Now she sounded almost like she would cry and Roxas hugged her gently.

"S'okay mom. He's watching from heaven." Roxas comforted his mother as she sniffed and held him. He was still a bit shorter than her although he was hoping he would grow. His father had been taller.

His mother's name was Aeris and Roxas thought she was the best mother in the world. Beautiful, intelligent and kind, she'd raised him the best she could when his father fell in combat. Roxas could barely remember Cloud but his mother had told him all about him and the one picture they had of him was featured prominently in their rooms. Unfortunately, it wasn't that good a picture, but Roxas could still see that he looked very much like his father. Aeris was a healer so she'd stayed at the Dragon Court even after Cloud's death. She worked on both the humans and dragons but her specialty was dragons. Once, in a moment of weakness, Aeris had confessed that she'd thought of leaving and finding him an apprenticeship at something else. So he wouldn't be risking his life like his father.

"Axel's a good dragon. He'll take care of me." Roxas added as he saw his words weren't comforting his mother. She sniffed and rubbed her eyes for a moment before smiling. There was real pride in her smile.

"It's okay Roxas." And it really was. Aeris had known for years that it would break Roxas' heart if he never caught a dragon. She was afraid for him but would not hold him back. "Let's go meet your dragon." Roxas had already described him but she wanted to see for herself. The blonde nodded, smiling, and led his mother to the dragon pens. A few of the dragons greeted her and Aeris waved back cheerfully, pausing to quickly check on a small black female. But soon they reached the dragon they wanted.

"Axel!" Roxas wasn't sure whether to laugh or smack him. The red dragon was idly flexing his wing muscles and shooting a pretty green female interested glances. She was preening her scales and occasionally meeting his glances, eyelashes lowered flirtatiously. Roxas glanced at his mother and saw she was holding back laughter.

"You must be Axel. I can see you're making friends." She said, her voice full of amusement. Axel abandoned his game to look at her curiously. "I'm Roxas' mother, Aeris." She introduced herself. Axel cocked his ears forward and tucked his paws beneath his chest. Dragons couldn't smile in their natural form, but that was alert and non-threatening body language.

"I'm pleased to meet you." He offered. "If you like, I can take my human form and we can go for a walk." Axel could tell that Aeris wanted to speak to him but not necessarily in front of all the other dragons. She nodded with a slight smile and that smile widened as he assumed his human form.

"Oh my, that brings back memories." She said reminiscently as she looked over the red haired man. "Have you ever heard of a dragon named Leah?" Axel tossed back his head with a laugh and Roxas smiled.

"That's my brother! Has everyone heard of him?" He said, amused and Aeris laughed. She had a very nice laugh, clear and crisp as birdsong and Axel looked at her with interest. She was really quite pretty for an older woman.

"Oh my yes. He was a frequent flyer with the healers." She shook her head in mock exasperation. "And the Dragon Master never got scratched. We could never figure it out." Axel grinned at that.

"Well, I'll do my best to keep up the tradition!" He said jokingly but there was a serious edge to it. Roxas frowned for a moment. He didn't want Axel getting torn up trying to protect him! They walked out of the stable and Aeris gently quizzed the dragon on his family and history. Axel was very open about it and they soon found out he had been born in a clutch of eight eggs. "Seven sisters and me, the only boy." He said, a touch proudly. "I'm only the second boy my parents have had, and they've had ten clutches." Roxas blinked at that but it wasn't really surprising. Young females were very common compared to males. "My parents were happy I was a boy but glad to see me go. Adolescents are such a pain in the ass." Axel said with a grin and Aeris laughed again.

"They are that. Fortunately ours aren't as bad." She noticed Roxas' puzzled look and smiled gently. "That's one of the reasons dragons serve us as mounts. When their children are nearing adulthood they become very hormonal." She said delicately and Roxas blinked. That explanation hadn't occurred to him. Although…

"One of the reasons?" He asked, interested. His classes hadn't really gone into the past much. They'd mostly concentrated on dragon customs and body language. Those were more important for a Knight anyway. Axel looked thoughtful for a moment, running a hand through his hair.

"There was a war or something too. This was part of the treaty. I wasn't really listening when my mama tried to explain it. Talk about boring!" Axel shuddered dramatically and Aeris laughed again. "And we get to fight gryphons. I can't wait!" Roxas understood that part of it. Gryphons and dragons had been competitors for the mountains since the dawn of time, and when humans had become involved they had each found a side. The country over the mountains, Kontifra, used gryphon mounts much like Alleria used dragons. Roxas thought they had the better part of that deal. Dragons were smart and could speak where gryphons were more like trained birds. Clever and vicious but not intelligent. Still, it wasn't wise to underestimate them. One gryphon wasn't much of a threat to a dragon but a swarm of them certainly was. And even just one could be dangerous if the dragon was caught by surprise.

"Not until we're ready." Roxas said firmly. And right now the country was at peace with Kontifra. Maybe they'd never see combat against a gryphon. But they might… unlike Alleria, where the King had a monopoly on dragons, a wide variety of groups tried to catch gryphons. Dragons would refuse to serve outlaws but the stupid, oversized falcons would serve anyone who could train them.

"Of course." Axel agreed but there was a devilish glint in his eyes. Roxas sighed to himself as he realized he'd probably have to be the voice of reason. Was that why Leah had always been the one to get hurt? Roxas smiled as he imagined the Dragon Master trying to reign in a headstrong dragon. Then he imagined himself doing the same with Axel. This was going to be interesting.

They talked a bit longer and finally had to say goodbye. It was getting late and while today was a rest day, Roxas still had some chores to do. This week he was helping out in the herb room. When they were almost to their rooms his mother turned to him with a small smile.

"He's a perfect fit for you. I'm glad you found him Roxas." She said and Roxas couldn't help but smile. "You'll be a good team."

"Thanks mom." He said, then asked. "Do you want to go down to the herb room with me?" As a healer Aeris often worked with the herbs as well. She thought about it a moment then nodded.

"I should make more salve. Yes. But let's grab something to eat first." Supper wasn't for several hours but they could easily pick up a snack, perhaps an apple or a bit of nut mix. Roxas nodded, feeling his stomach grumble. He was still growing and lunch seemed to wear off all too soon.

Tomorrow he would get a chance to ride his dragon.

* * *

"I'm not hurting you, am I?" Roxas asked worriedly as he tightened a strap. Axel laughed, looking down at him and snuffling his hair. Roxas winced at the smell and slapped his muzzle away. The dragon gave him a wounded look before responding.

"I'm fine. I can't feel a thing really." Roxas nodded. That made sense, given the hardness of dragon hide. "The only really sensitive spots I've got are my black skin." Axel explained and Roxas glanced over him. That meant the joints in his wings and legs… very tiny targets for an enemy. As well as his face. "So tighten that sucker as much as you can."

"Right." Roxas pulled hard on the strap and quickly checked everything, ignoring the hostile looks some of the boys passing by gave him. Just as the Dragon Master had said, most of the boys hadn't found dragons. Some, like Xiphon, had aged out and were now on the support crew. Roxas hid his smirk at the thought. They especially resented him but he was a Dragon Knight now. They didn't dare touch him.

"Okay, move over and let me check that." Sora. Roxas smiled and moved aside so the older knight could go over his job. Sora looked over the harness thoroughly and nodded approvingly. "Good job! Okay. Before we get started there's a few things to go over." Roxas listened intently as Sora leaned against Riku. The white dragon already had his harness on and was dozing off. "I know you'll have used the dummy and it's pretty good." Roxas winced a bit at that. The dummy was an invention one of the Dragon Knight's had come up with a long time ago. It was a mock up of a dragon, held up by ropes and wearing the normal rigging. The boys could tug on the ropes to give whoever was riding the 'dragon' the ride of his life. "But it's not like riding a real dragon. Nothing is. You'll need to balance your weight…" Roxas listened intently as Sora gave him pointers on how to ride Axel. The dragon wasn't listening at all and Sora suddenly snapped at him. "Axel! Stop flexing your wings for those females." Axel's ears went back and his wings abruptly went down. Roxas snickered as the dragon almost cringed at Sora's tone. "Pay attention. We have advice for you as well." Sora took a deep breath and patted Riku, who woke with a snort. The silver maned dragon yawned, then began to speak.

"My turn?" Sora nodded and Riku turned to Axel. "You'll have no training for this so in many ways, you have more to learn than Roxas. You need to learn the different commands he'll use." Axel shifted and Roxas glanced at him. He thought he read amusement in the red dragon's body language and clearly Riku thought so too. His voice hardened. "This is no laughing matter. Humans provide us with a second set of eyes during battle. Often there will be nothing for Roxas to add to the mayhem you'll be creating so he will be watching out for you. If he calls for you to dive, you dive. If he calls for you to climb, you climb. He's probably seen the gryphon's about to hit you from behind! You understand?"

"Uh, yes." Axel said, chagrined. "Uh… so what are these commands?" Sora jumped onto his back and took the reins, demonstrating the commands Roxas would be giving. The placement of the straps meant some pressure was put on the more delicate black skin when the Dragon Knight pulled. "It's going to take me a while to remember. My memory isn't the best." Axel said humbly and Riku laughed.

"That's alright. We all have to repeat things for a while before we get the hang of it. You're going to be training together for at least six months before you get to even go on patrols." From the way Axel dipped his head and wings, he found that discouraging. "Don't worry, that's perfectly normal. You'll need every bit of it to get used to being ridden."

"Of course." Axel's voice held only acceptance. "One question?" Riku dipped his head and Axel continued. "What if I think Roxas is wrong?" Riku hesitated a moment before answering carefully.

"That can happen." He looked at Sora apologetically but the Dragon Knight just smiled and shrugged. "Sometimes there's something that will prevent you from obeying. For instance, maybe your Knight signals you to dive but you know that your wing is sprained and you'll never be able to pull up. Or perhaps the updrafts are too strong. If something like that happens, do what you think is best. But if you're going to disobey you must have a reason. If you disobey for the hell of it you're worse than useless." Axel bobbed his head and Sora gripped the straps, pulling himself up onto the saddle. Roxas swallowed and followed suit, mounting Axel easily. He was ready for this. He'd practiced on the dummy tons of times. He was ready for –

"Ah!" Roxas gasped as he was thrown back into his saddle. Both dragons exploded into the air, wings beating hard and fast as they strived to gain height. The saddle seemed to grip him like a glove and Roxas felt extremely thankful for it as he gripped the straps. It felt like forever before the lurching finally stopped and Axel began to glide. Roxas almost relaxed before the dragon took another wingbeat. There was a very unpleasant dipping sensation and Roxas found he was feeling a touch ill. That wasn't too surprising though. The things the boys did with the dummy had made him feel sick too.

"You alright back there? Not going to puke on me?" Axel asked, turning his head slightly to look at Roxas out of one bright green eye. Roxas nodded, swallowing hard.

"I'm not going to be sick. Don't worry." He was sure the other dragons had regaled Axel with horror stories of first time riders. Axel laughed.

"Well, if you are just tell me and I'll swoop to the side so you can do it straight down. And Astera help whatever's beneath us!" Roxas smiled at the mention of the Goddess of dragons. Most humans didn't know a thing about her but the Dragon Knights had a small shrine built to her. It was mostly for the dragons themselves but some of the Knights also made offerings.

For several hours, they practiced the different commands. True to his words, Axel often got confused on which command was which, but by the end of the lesson he seemed to be getting the hang of it. Finally, Riku called for them to go back to the Citadel. Roxas blinked as he realized how far they'd gone but Axel didn't hesitate, turning around and flying hard. Roxas noticed the redheaded dragon didn't seem winded at all, although he'd been doing very heavy work for some time. Riku seemed to notice it as well.

"You have good stamina. Exactly what I would expect from Leah's brother." He commented as they came in for a landing. Riku wasn't winded either, but he was an adult dragon in full fitness, not a beginner hatchling. Axel preened the tangles out of his mane for a moment as Roxas slipped off his back. After such a long flight the ground felt very good.

"Yeah, you know us. Can't sit around, always on the go! I can fly six hours straight." Axel said with pride and Roxas looked at him, surprised. That was about the length of a long patrol.

"Good. You'll need to." Was all Riku said. Sora seemed very pleased though, clapping Roxas on the shoulder.

"Very good start! Come on, let's get some lunch and then we can do a bit of book learning before you get your exercise in the courtyard." Sora laughed as Roxas groaned. "Sorry, combat training never ends! Riding is definitely exercise but you ride all the better when you're fit."

"I know." And he did know. He had to constantly adjust his weight and balance while he was riding Axel and Roxas could see how someone out of shape would throw the dragon off. As they were walking off Roxas heard Riku saying something to Axel about human cultures, but he ignored it.

He was hungry.

* * *

"You'll also need some instruction." Axel lifted his head, gazing at Riku curiously. He knew he would need to learn many things, but he'd assumed it was all about being ridden. Roxas was leaving though. What could Riku want to teach him? "Things about human culture." The dragon explained. "Come, we should go somewhere private for this." The silver dragon took off again and Axel hesitated a moment before following. It was a medium length flight but Axel wasn't tired in the least. Before too long they landed on the rocks nearby a lake. Riku paused to take a long drink from the lake and Axel followed suit. The cold, clear water tasted delicious. "So. What do you think of the castle so far?"

"Roxas mom is hot." Axel said without thinking. "I'd totally tap that – ow!" The younger dragon rubbed his head where Riku had just smacked him with his shoulder. "What?" Riku sighed gustily.

"I see we're going to have a lot of work." Riku wasn't really surprised. Male dragons got picked to mentor other male dragons for several reasons. The first was simply that the younger dragon wouldn't waste his time showing off in an effort to impress like he would with a female. The second was that they understood how the ardent desire to mate clouded the mind. Females felt no urge at all to mate in their human forms but for males it was different. "While Roxas' mother is free, you should probably ask Roxas before you even consider trying to 'tap that'." Riku said dryly and Axel flipped his ears back, managing to look as embarrassed as a dragon could. "And you absolutely must not approach any female human who is already claimed by a male. Which is pretty much all of them."

"What!" Axel sounded dismayed now. "Why would they all be taken? Geez, are the human males greedy?" Riku snickered and Axel glared at him. "What?"

"Axel, humans have an almost even number of females to males." Riku explained patiently. "Ideally. In the citadel the number of females is actually lower than males, since riding a dragon is considered men's work. There are some female trainees and staff but they are outnumbered by the males." From the way Axel's tail was lashing, this was a difficult concept for the adolescent to take. "There are some free human females, mostly older ones like Roxas' mother. But you should get to know these people before you make any moves. Human culture is different and if you ask a woman if she wants to see your horn she'll be offended." Riku paused a moment, thinking. "Unless it's the harvest festival. That's sacred to the Goddess of Love."

"Really? When is that – ow! Stop that!" Axel tried to smack Riku back, but the elder dragon evaded him easily. "Okay, okay. I'll just concentrate on the dragon females then." Axel was sure he could seduce several of them with minimal to no effort. He'd just been looking forward to trying out sex as a human. He'd experimented with his human form many times and was pleasantly looking forward to something new.

"That would be wise. Now, let me tell you a bit about the human gods…" Riku started explaining the convoluted human religion and Axel listened, wondering why Riku was telling him this. But he was sure there was a reason and he really didn't want to get smacked again.

Maybe he'd figure out what the reason was, someday.

* * *

"Hey Axel." Roxas sat down beside his dragon. Axel was in his human form and sitting on a bench, watching the trainees practice in the courtyard. Roxas noticed a few of the new support crew giving him dirty looks, Xiphon in particular. He ignored them and concentrated on the redhead. That was easy to do… even sitting down and at ease, Axel commanded attention. Roxas vaguely admired his hair, the way the soft strands formed into beautiful spikes. His skin was a touch dirty from all the flying but Roxas was sure the dragon would groom himself later.

"Hi Roxas." Axel smiled at a female trainee, who blushed and missed her target. Then Axel turned his attention to Roxas. "Hey, do you mind if I ask a personal question?" He asked innocently and Roxas tilted his head to one side.

"No, what?" He couldn't imagine what the dragon wanted to know.

"Would you mind if I pronged your mother?" Roxas' thoughts slid to a halt as he considered that. Had Axel just said what he thought he'd said?

"I'm not sure I understand what you mean by 'prong'." He finally said carefully. This had to be a misunderstanding. Surely Axel wasn't suggesting what he thought. The redhead looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Um… the Sidereal Sideways, the mating flight, the horizontal mambo… did I miss anything?" Axel said and Roxas' eyes narrowed. He smiled and gently put a hand on the redhead's back.

"Axel, I think you might be a good friend. I like you already. But if you _ever_ touch my mom like that I'm going to find a really _big_ tree to brain you with. Got it?" Roxas said, controlling his temper with difficulty. Axel looked slightly alarmed.

"Okay, okay, I get it. No doing your mom." He lifted his hands pacifically. "I was just wondering since she's awfully hot and I saw her looking at me. I'm pretty sure she would – ow!" Axel rubbed his head where Roxas had slapped him. "Why is everyone hitting me in the head?"

"Because you're an idiot." Roxas said tartly and was surprised when Axel grinned at him.

"Yeah, I know, my brother always told me that. So you want to train? I'll be your partner." Axel offered and Roxas paused, startled. But there was no reason he couldn't train with the redhead. Although he couldn't remember a dragon offering that before.

"Sure." Soon they were practicing together and Roxas was learning Axel's style better. It was still all offense and very little defense but maybe someday the redhead would learn.

They were both still very young.


	3. Ow My Wing!

It was early morning in the practice field and Roxas yawned as he rubbed his eyes, carrying out his saddle with the help of one of the support crew. It was just too bulky for one person. Axel was already out of the stables, shivering at the chill in the air and occasionally breathing little mists of fire to keep warm. Dawn was always cool this close to the mountains.

"Thanks." Roxas said to the crewman. He smiled and bobbed his head before heading back inside, probably to get a nice hot cup of tea. Roxas vaguely wished he could follow, but he had lessons to start. Roxas tightened the straps and frowned as he felt something a bit odd. But checking the leather revealed nothing. Roxas was still puzzling over what he'd felt when Axel sniffed his hair.

"Axel!" Roxas laughed, pushing away his dragon's muzzle. He considered it for a moment more than shrugged. The strong, cured leather was almost brand new and had never seen combat. The chances of anything going wrong were slim. He pulled himself up into the saddle and smiled as he patted Axel's shoulder. The dragon huffed a touch impatiently.

"Where's Sora and Riku? I want to fly!" Flying would warm him up very quickly. Axel lashed his tail as Roxas waited patiently. For some reason the Knight and dragon were late. "Hey, who's that?" Axel said, distracted by two other Dragon Knights. One was, surprisingly, a girl with hair that fell past her shoulders. It was done up in the back in a bun and she was wearing glasses. Her dragon was an unusual color, sky blue with tiny gold horns and very tiny even for a female. Roxas was sure he'd never seen the pair before.

"I don't know." He said truthfully as the woman swung down from her mount and walked over. The other Dragon Knight he recognized easily, a young man named Ash. His dragon was a coal colored female named Zuun and her body language looked very amused. Roxas wondered why but then the stranger began to speak.

"Hello there. You must be Roxas. I'm Quistis Trepe." She smiled up at him and Roxas slid back out of the saddle, offering her a hand to shake. She had a good grip, he noticed, firm but not painful. "Sora will be coming soon but he asked us to help out with this lesson. I'm newly returned from Balamb."

"Really?" Roxas had heard of the floating city and training centre but he hadn't quite believed it was real. Although the Citadel would never see it. The ancient technology that made it capable of flying was forbidden to fly this far north. The dragons didn't like it at all and they had a very direct way of making their displeasure plain. "What's it like?" Roxas asked eagerly. He'd dreamed of seeing Balamb someday. Quistis opened her mouth to answer but her dragon beat her to it.

"Revolting." Roxas' mouth slipped open in shock at the loud, vibrant voice coming from the delicate blue dragon. She sounded like she could be heard for miles. "It's cramped, it smells and it vibrates. The sound is vile and the people are a bunch of snots. Don't go, or if you do bring a barf bag."

"Ladana!" Quistis seemed torn between laughter and irritation. Roxas could empathize with that. "Don't mind her. Dragons hate living on Balamb although it's easier in their human shapes."

"And that's another thing! I haven't gotten laid in over a year. Even these damn pasty faced humans are looking good. What do you say we go for some alone time, eh big boy?" She ran a very pink tongue over her lips in what Roxas had come to recognize as the draconic version of a leer. Axel stretched his wings slightly, primping for the audience.

"Love to, beautiful. But I think this is a lesson?" Axel purred and Quistis butted in, trying to regain control.

"Yes, it is. Enough Ladana – ah." Sora and Riku were coming in for a landing. "Good. Yes, today is the first day of aerial combat training." Roxas stiffened and Axel suddenly gave her his full attention. This was going to be more a lesson for him than for Roxas, although there were some things Roxas could do in combat to make his life easier. "Sora and Riku are going to be observing as Ash and I harass you like gryphons would." Roxas swallowed at that and nodded. That explained why there were two dragons… gryphons rarely went alone. But it also meant the two of them wouldn't use the full range of their attacks, only what a gryphon could be expected to have. Somehow, that wasn't very comforting. "Let us begin." Roxas scrambled back onto Axel as Quistis swung smoothly up onto Ladana. The little blue dragon exploded into the sky with a flurry of wings and Axel followed close behind.

Roxas and Axel soon found had their hands full as they tried to dodge the two older Dragon Knights. At first they failed miserably. Axel was so focused on what he was doing that he often failed to heed Roxas' tugs and made himself easy prey for the other dragons. But over time they got better and learned to avoid the other dragon's buffets. Gryphons knew dragons well and didn't bother trying to use their claws. Instead, they would attack a dragon with closed fists in an attempt to knock him or her out of the sky. That was a very serious threat.

Roxas was keeping an eye on Quistis and Sora as Axel dove away from Ash when suddenly he heard a snapping sound. Then the whole saddle lurched to the side as Axel banked. Roxas had only a moment to scream as the whole thing began sliding off the dragon's back.

"Axel!" He screamed, tugging hard on the reins. Axel was confused by the command, which seemed to be to climb and glanced back at Roxas just long enough to see the problem. Unfortunately that distracted him from Ash and Zuun, who were deeply involved in the exercise. Zuun had expected Axel to dodge but instead she hit him firmly behind the head with closed fists. Roxas screamed as they suddenly plunged, the stunned red dragon's wings folding. But Axel seemed to suddenly recover and snapped his wings open again, pumping them to slow his descent.

It was an extremely rough landing but in some ways, it was for the best. Roxas was hanging from Axel by the leather straps and they were starting to get slippery in his hands. The blonde wasn't sure how long he could hold on, but Axel's descent solved that problem for him. The red dragon hit the ground hard and Roxas let go, rolling across the meadow before fetching up against a tree stump with a thump. Roxas groaned as he realized he was going to have bruises and strained muscles all over his body.

"Ow… ow… ow…" From the sound of it Axel wasn't doing any better. Roxas lifted his head and saw with dismay that one of the red dragon's wings was twisted under him. But even as he watched Axel managed to roll over and get his wing free. "Ow!" Roxas pushed himself up and staggered over to his dragon as Axel carefully moved his wing.

"It's not broken?" He said hopefully, gently touching the scales. Axel shuddered then shook his head, a small puff of flame.

"I think it's sprained. Really hurts – ow!" Roxas winced and pulled his hands away. Then he looked up as Riku and Ladana landed in a flurry of dust. Zuun was still circling overhead.

"What was that?" Quistis looked furious as she vaulted off her dragon. Axel mantled slightly at the tone, despite his wing and Roxas suddenly found himself hidden behind the tough scaly skin. "Stop that! What happened up there? Didn't you check your gear properly?"

"Of course I checked it!" Roxas said, guiltily aware of that strange feeling he'd had… but he had checked. "There was nothing wrong." From the look on her face, Quistis was ready to spit nails.

"Clearly there was or this wouldn't have happened. You could have died! You – what?" Roxas managed to get out from Axel's wings. He needed to take this like a man. He blinked as he saw that Sora had arrived and had his hand on Quistis' shoulder.

"Quistis. He's my student, not yours." Sora's tone held cold disapproval and Quistis flushed before closing her mouth into a tight line. Sora turned his attention to Roxas then and the blonde flinched at the look at his face. "Roxas, your gear is your responsibility. You can't count on the support crew to do everything for you. Accidents like this are usually fatal." Roxas bit his lip but Sora wasn't done. "Axel isn't going to be fit for flying for at least a week. You're going to be on stable duty until he's fit again. Understand?"

"Yes sir." Roxas understood. He was being punished for his oversight and would probably be spending a whole lot of time working with saddles. But that was fine. He'd done it before as a trainee and Axel really wasn't going to be flying for sometime. The dragon shuddered and took his human form, gasping and gripping his ribs. It wasn't really analogous… dragons had six limbs… but damage from one form always transferred to another. Roxas had a feeling that a sprained wing might translate into sprained ribs.

"Good." Sora looked up and signaled Zuun and Ash to land. "Roxas, you ride double with Ash. Axel, you go with Quistis." The redhead just nodded and Sora examined his ashen face for a moment. "I'll help you up." Axel looked ready to protest for a moment but then let Sora grip his waist as Quistis took his good arm to help him onto Ladana. Roxas had to suppress a giggle… it looked very odd, since Axel was so much taller than Sora. He gripped Zuun's harness and pulled himself up behind Ash, gripping the other Dragon Knight tightly. Roxas noticed Sora gathering up the broken harness and vaguely wondered why. Was he going to have it fixed or made into a new one?

"Never seen an accident like that on a brand new harness before." Ash said conversationally as Zuun took off. Roxas had to hold on very tight in his position behind Ash. Dragon's weren't really meant to be ridden double. "Sora'll get to the bottom of it. He's good at figuring things out."

"Oh. Good." Roxas said vaguely. Maybe the harness itself was defective. That wouldn't save him his punishment though… he had to do something while Axel was healing anyway and working in the stables just made sense. Roxas bit his lip, worrying about Axel. How long would it take for his wing to heal? The dragon had looked to be in a lot of pain.

His mother would know. Roxas resolved to bring Aeris to Axel as soon as they got back to the Citadel. If anyone could help him it would be his mother.

* * *

"You were right to call me baby." Aeris said and for once, Roxas didn't object to being called 'baby'. "Axel, I'm very sorry but you have a dislocated wing." She said apologetically and the red dragon groaned. He was stretched out in his stall and holding his left wing at a distinctly odd angle. "Roxas, I'll need you to help me. We need to put it back in place." She fished in her purse for a moment and pulled out a paper wrapper, unfurling it to reveal something dark and gooey. "Axel, eat this. Try to chew before you swallow." The dragon lifted his head and sniffed it before cautiously taking it, paper and all. He chewed thoughtfully for a moment.

"Ai cain't feel mai ton'" Axel muttered as he swallowed. Aeris nodded, her expression serious as she watched him.

"It's a fairly potent painkiller. Tell me when your wing isn't hurting." It took a while but finally Axel was in no pain. "Alright Roxas. You hold him right there and when I tell you, push." Aeris half-closed her eyes, using her magic to get a good feel for the position of the bones and softer cartilage. Then she suddenly gave twisted the wing.

"Ow." Axel murmured as there was a very loud pop and the wing seemed to slide back into a more natural position. He sighed and managed to fold it back into a resting state. "Thash better." Axel closed his eyes and Roxas gently petted the soft black skin of his muzzle.

"You'll be better soon." He whispered to the sleeping dragon. Axel looked almost cute asleep, his tongue sticking out just a bit. "Thanks mom." She smiled and patted him on the back.

"It was nothing." Aeris said. If her son hadn't immediately fetched her she was sure someone else would have seen to Axel. She walked over to a chalkboard, picking up a piece of chalk and writing down Axel's name and what she had done. That was important to prevent anyone from giving an already groggy dragon a second dose of painkiller, or any other treatment. Roxas stayed with Axel, gently petting his skin and his mane.

He was already so attached to the crazy red dragon. He couldn't imagine what he'd do if anything happened to him.

* * *

"You wanted to speak to me?" The Dragon Master asked pleasantly as Sora walked into his office.

"Yes, sir. Sub-rosa." Sora clarified and the Dragon Master nodded, touching a little pattern of roses on his desk. In most places they were strictly ornamental despite the myths that they ensured privacy. Here they were reinforced with some rather potent magic that put a field of silence over the room. They could be broken, of course, but it would take more than trainees wondering what their elders were talking about to get past them. "Sir… I have an accident to report. Roxas' tack failed during training exercises. Axel managed to land, but dislocated his wing." The Dragon Master's eyes widened slightly but he waited patiently. He was sure there was more to the story, or why ask for silence? "Afterwards I gathered up the saddle and examined it. I found this." Sora dropped two pieces of leather onto the desk and the Dragon Master picked it up with a frown.

"I see." He said quietly after a brief examination. One piece was very small. It had been the spot where the leather attached to the saddle. The rest was longer and had been cut down to an easy to carry size by Sora, but the join between the two was obvious. It was also obvious that it had failed due to a cut in the leather. The break was smooth until the very end, where it was ragged as the leather finally let go. "Not an accident then." The Dragon Master seemed sad but not particularly surprised and Sora tilted his head, giving him a questioning look. The older knight heaved a sigh and stood, walking to the window and gazing out over the courtyard. "Sora, I try to tell the boys that most of them won't get a dragon. There just aren't enough hatchlings, even if they're all lucky and skilled… and a lot of them aren't skilled enough. Or clever enough." He added with a small smile, but it quickly faded. "Bitterness and envy can take hold when a peer succeeds where they failed, and Roxas is very young. I knew if there was going to be an incident it would be with him, but I'd hoped I was wrong." Sora winced, looking down. He'd never experienced that, but he'd been very popular when he was a trainee. Roxas was more reserved.

"Should I suspend his punishment?" Sora offered when the Dragon Master said nothing more. The older knight blinked, turning away from the window.

"Oh no. No. That would let whoever did this know that we know. Fetch me, mm… fetch me Quistis." The Dragon Master rubbed his chin for a moment, thinking. "And Vincent. They both know how to keep a secret. I trust you can do the same?" Sora swallowed at the dust dry tone in the Master's voice and nodded. "Good. We'll need to investigate this. There are too many possible suspects." Sora nodded.

"Yes sir." As he left to assemble the other Dragon Knights Sora reflected on the situation. Roxas was the first junior Dragon Knight he'd ever mentored and he hadn't anticipated anything like this occurring. But anticipated or not, it was happening. And no one was going to harm his junior Knight. Certainly not by sabotage.

When he found who it was they would regret ever being born.

* * *

"So Roxas." Axel stretched lazily in his stall, rubbing his face against the warm stone. "Tell me more about yourself. Tell me, mm, about your father. Was he a great warrior?" Roxas stiffened slightly, pausing in his work. His task now was to rub the saddles with oil, keeping the leather soft and pliant. Not that the dragons would notice if the leather was stiff, but it would last longer and fit better this way.

"He was very great." Roxas said softly, looking at the leather sightlessly for a moment. "He was killed by a dragon." Axel lifted his head and looked at Roxas, his green eyes wide with surprise. "A wild dragon like we'd never seen before… all white and silver like Riku. Vincent was there and he said the dragon was twice as big as any male he'd ever seen. Dad and his dragon were both killed… Vincent barely survived. His dragon died." That was a brief way of talking about a great tragedy. Roxas had heard rumors that Vincent's heart had died with his dragon. He'd found a new dragon later, but he and Chaos didn't seem very attached to each other.

"Oh." Axel sounded subdued as he thought about that. "Do you know the dragon's names?" He ventured. It was important to him. Roxas nodded.

"Tifa and Lucrezia." Roxas noticed Axel's faint wince. "You knew them?" Axel seemed too young. Although dragons aged differently than humans. Axel shook his head.

"Oh no. I'm much too young. But I know all my female relatives and Tifa was my half-sib I think." Axel thought about it a moment. "Yeah, that would be before mom won breeding rights to dad." Roxas blinked at that.

"Breeding rights?" He asked, grateful for the change of topic. Axel went with it, also glad to be away from something painful.

"Oh sure! Males can only have ten eggs a season so the females fight for us." Axel preened himself a bit as Roxas stared at him. "And males fight males a bit, but that's just for show to establish who's more desirable as a mate. And successful past clutches count a lot for that, which is part of why we send out so many females to work for you humans. The matrons don't want ridiculous amounts of competition!"

"Wait, wait, back up." Roxas interrupted as Axel flicked his tail at an annoying fly buzzing around. "Males can only have ten eggs a season? What do you mean?" That didn't make much sense to Roxas at all. Didn't females lay the eggs? Axel looked a bit confused as well.

"Males plant their eggs in the females, who fertilize them and carry them to term." Axel said patiently. "We only make ten eggs a year at the most." Roxas chewed his lip as he thought about it. It took a lot of work to wrap his mind around the concept but it sounded like male dragons and male humans were a lot more different than he'd thought. "So the females compete hard for mating rights and are constantly trying to poach the taken males." Axel smirked. "And we get a lot of nookie since they can't tell when we've used up our eggs."

"Axel!" Roxas slapped the red dragon on the side and smiled as he laughed. "If that's true, why do they let males leave?" It seemed like they'd want to keep all the males close to home. Axel laughed.

"Oh, they keep most of them! The only males that go into the world are the ones that are making the elders want to throw them off a cliff with broken wings." Axel said cheerfully. "My family is known for being feisty and I figured I'd keep up the tradition." Roxas shook his head with a smile. That, he could see. "Back in the bad old days, they'd kick a male out with a pack of females to establish a new aerie, but now the mountains are full so we go to you instead."

"Well, I'm glad for that." Roxas said without thinking and laughed as Axel nuzzled him. He petted the dragon's soft black skin, smiling as he looked into bright green eyes.

"Me too. I like it here a lot. And I like you." Roxas swallowed at the warm, almost flirtatious tone in Axel's voice. He was sure the dragon meant nothing by it except perhaps an idle tease.

And that was a shame.


	4. Mystery Meat

"I'm not eating that." Roxas gave Axel a tired glare. He'd worked hard all morning cleaning out the stables and just didn't need this.

"Stop being a primma donna!" Roxas snapped then sighed as Axel gave him a wounded look. "I'm sorry Axel. But really, it should be fine."

"It's not." Axel's tone was flat as he looked at the raw meat spread out in the usual spot and Roxas blinked. He'd hardly ever heard Axel use that tone of voice. "I don't know what's wrong with it but it smells bad. Here." Axel shifted to his human form and glanced around. "Where do they keep the shovels? I'll help you clean it up." Putting it back in the wheelbarrow was going to be a pain, which was why Roxas hadn't wanted to do it. The blonde bit his lip.

"Are you sure? You're feeling well enough?" He said anxiously. The sprained wing/rib were healing, but slowly. Axel grinned briefly.

"I'll just take it slow. Aeris said some exercise would do me good anyway." That was reassuring and Roxas quickly found them some shovels. Axel winced a few times as they worked but soon they were getting the meat piled back up in the wheelbarrow. Vincent was talking quietly to Chaos, his black female, and Roxas looked up as the older Dragon Knight walked over.

"What are you doing?" Roxas paused, glancing down at the heap of meat. There was still a lot to go.

"Axel says the meat doesn't smell right. I was going to get him another barrow." Roxas explained and Vincent frowned thoughtfully, looking at the meat. He picked up a piece and examined it.

"It looks fine, but dragons have a very acute sense of smell. Make sure to get a clean wheelbarrow." Vincent instructed and Roxas nodded. He'd been planning on that anyway. The barrows were cleaned thoroughly every night, another task he was helping with. "And put that one in the dirty ones. Perhaps someone didn't rinse it thoroughly." Roxas looked at the wheelbarrow thoughtfully and nodded again. That was a possibility he hadn't thought of and the caustic cleaners used to get rid of the blood and flesh might very well be harmful to a dragon. He completely failed to notice the elder Dragon Knight tucking away the piece of meat in a pocket. "Let me help you." Vincent found another shovel and Roxas couldn't hide his surprise then.

"You don't have to sir." He protested but Vincent was already quickly and efficiently moving the meat. Roxas gathered his wits and began to help as quickly as he could. Things went much faster with Vincent helping. Axel was trying but he just couldn't move quickly.

"It's no problem." Vincent actually smiled, although it was a small, thin smile. "We've all been put on probation once in a while." Roxas had trouble imagining the quiet, intense Knight on probation. Although maybe that was because he couldn't imagine Vincent being careless or breaking the rules in a small way. A big way, yes, but Vincent was not the sort of person to do anything by halves. "There you go." The meat was all loaded up and Axel took the shovels, putting them away as Roxas picked up the barrow.

"Thank you sir." He said politely and Vincent nodded, walking over to Chaos and speaking with her very softly. Roxas caught a few of the words but didn't understand them. They seemed to be in another language. Well, it wasn't polite to eavesdrop anyway. Roxas quickly dumped the meat into the midden pile and went to get another barrow. The Citadel required a lot of meat and the ranchers in the plains below made a good living supplying them. All the butchering was done on site though, so the meat was very fresh. Roxas soon had a batch of fresh meat and was carting it back to Axel. This time he waited for the red dragon to sniff it before he dumped out the wheelbarrow.

"This is fine." Axel delicately took a chunk of meat off the top and Roxas smiled before he dumped the meat in the usual spot. Vincent was right, it must have been the cleaners on that barrow. He made a mental note to mention it to the Master of the Stables. He could give the boys a lecture about cleaning out the wheelbarrows properly. Wasting food wasn't a good thing. That reminded him…

"Axel?" The redhead looked up from his meal as Roxas leaned against the wall, smiling. "I was wondering. Would you like to come to supper with mother and me sometime?" Axel tilted his head, flicking his ears forward in a way that struck Roxas as alert and intrigued.

"That could be fun." Axel said brightly. He'd still have to eat his meal in the stables beforehand, of course. Dragon shape shifting led to some peculiar dietary requirements. If a dragon planned to stay in human form all the time, he could get by on a much smaller amount of food, although other humans would still be wincing at the amount he or she put away. But if they were going to be in dragon form, they needed to eat the large amounts of meat a dragon required. So eating with Roxas' mother would mostly be a social thing, but Axel thought it was a grand idea. "Riku's been telling me about 'table manners.' I'm not sure what it is yet, can you show me?" Axel said innocently and Roxas winced before he caught the hint of mischief in Axel's eyes.

"You silly!" Roxas affectionately rubbed Axel's soft nose, smiling. "You already know." Axel nuzzled him and Roxas felt the red dragon's warm breath on his hand. Roxas smiled to himself. Axel was just so cute like this.

"I do know." The dragon admitted, shifting slightly to stretch out on the floor of his stable. "But I've never done it before. You'll have to show me how." Axel was vaguely aware of human utensils and their purposes but how did you use them? Roxas winced at the thought then laughed, hugging Axel's face for a moment and making the dragon snort in surprise.

"Don't worry, mom and I will show you." He promised. Roxas was sure Aeris wouldn't mind showing Axel the art of using a fork and a knife. "Would tomorrow be good?" Axel chuckled softly in response.

"Any day is good for me." One day or another didn't mean much to him, except in terms of what exercises they were doing. Well, and what females he was seducing, but Axel could easily put that aside for the night. "Tomorrow then." Axel stretched his injured wing for a moment, testing it before pulling himself to his feet. "I think I'll go take a short flight." His wing still hurt quite a bit, but tiny flights would strengthen it. Roxas nodded.

"Just don't push it." He cautioned. Axel didn't need to strain himself. The dragon snorted softly, then laughed.

"Yes mother." Roxas laughed with him and watched Axel go with a smile. The red dragon moved with a sinuous grace, even injured, and several of the females watched him go. Including Chaos but she seemed more thoughtful than lustful, Roxas noticed. For a moment he felt an odd wistfulness but then pushed the feeling away as he went back to work.

There was always plenty of work to be done.

* * *

"Mmm." Axel was sampling human food for the first time and was appreciating it greatly. Aeris smiled in pleasure as she sliced a piece of bread and slid it over to him. The bread and butter had come from the main bakery but the casserole she had made herself on the small cast iron stove in their quarters. It was a lamb casserole with exotic spices and Roxas vaguely wondered where his mother had gotten them. The food at the Citadel was usually flavored only with garlic and sometimes mint. Axel licked his spoon appreciatively after every bite. What he was really appreciating, though, was the tang of the metal from the spoon. It seasoned every bite and made him desperately want more –

_Tink. Click._ Aeris and Roxas stared as Axel neatly nipped the head off his spoon and chewed once before he realized what he had done. Axel stopped with the expression of a child caught doing something naughty, the spoon tucked into his cheek.

"Uh, sorry." Axel managed to say as he looked down at his decapitated spoon. Aeris blinked and drew a breath.

"It's quite alright. It's just an old spoon." It was nothing but tin and very cheap. "Axel, have you been using the chew bars?" Aeris immediately slipped into dragon medic mode and Axel grimaced for a moment before chewing and swallowing the piece of metal.

"I've been trying but the females always have them. I was going to go over to the quarry as soon as my wing healed up." Axel admitted and Aeris frowned. Roxas hesitated before finally venturing a question.

"Mama? Are you talking about those metal bars in the stables?" Roxas had never been quite sure what they were for although he'd learned how to clean them, like everything else. They were bars of various metals, ranging from copper to bronze to tin, and had very sturdy wooden handles. The dragons seemed to like gripping them by the handles and slowly chewing on the metal.

"Hm, you should have learned about that in class." Roxas blushed, aware that it was something he'd probably forgotten. "No matter. Roxas, dragons need to eat metal, particularly when they're growing." Aeris smiled gently as Roxas blinked. "We're not entirely sure why. But chewing on those rods gives them the metal they need as well as wears down their teeth a bit. In the mountains, dragons chew on ore for both those purposes." Axel nodded before quickly stuffing the rest of the spoon in his mouth. It was broken anyway so he might as well finish it. Roxas had to hold back a giggle at the guilty look on his face as it tinkled as he chewed. "Maybe we need more bars. I'll have to check. They do wear out eventually and I don't think we've done an inventory in a while." She mused. They couldn't really afford to have their dragons heading off to the abandoned quarry too often. It was a long flight. Roxas nodded and went to fetch Axel a new spoon, an old wooden one this time. The redhead accepted it with a smile.

"Thanks Roxas." The rest of the meal passed pleasantly. Before they left Aeris checked Axel's ribs and the redhead tried to flirt with her a bit. That annoyed Roxas. He'd told Axel to stay away from his mom! Although the dragon was likely just keeping his hand in.

"Do you flirt with everything?" Roxas muttered as they were walking back to the stables. Axel flashed him a quick grin then thought about it a moment.

"No, I don't flirt with rocks. Or toads. Or other males." Axel said cheerfully. Roxas eyed him sidelong for a moment then let that pass. Although he sometimes wished Axel would flirt with him.

It was a pity that was never going to happen.

* * *

"Sir, I have something to report." The Dragon Master immediately touched the pattern of roses as Vincent shut the door. There could only be one thing Vincent wanted to speak to him about. "Someone tried to poison Axel yesterday." He said and the Dragon Master's eyes widened.

"Poison? What kind?" He asked, sounding shocked. Vincent frowned before he answered.

"Hex berries." The Dragon Master blinked at that and frowned. "I know, dragons eat them. But not in this quantity. I had Aeris check the meat and she says this amount of Hex berry would cause a dragon to go into convulsions and probably die."

"Surely you didn't tell her why you were asking?" The Dragon Master asked, alarmed. He was sure Aeris would not be able to keep a secret from Roxas. Vincent shook his head.

"No. She thinks the berries were accidentally found in the meat processing area. I didn't tell her the meat came from Roxas' wheelbarrow." The Dragon Master walked over to the window, gazing over the training area. Vincent waited patiently for several minutes. "Sir?"

"This puts a different complexion on things. Fetch Quistis and Sora." He commanded. Vincent nodded and exited the room. It took a bit of time for him to find the two of them and when they entered the Dragon Master was standing behind his desk. The expression on his face was grim. "Sora, Quistis, Vincent has uncovered something most troubling." He quickly related the poisoning attempt and the two Dragon Knights exchanged a shocked glance. "I believe this particular agent was used because it is something dragons eat normally. The poisoner might have thought Axel wouldn't detect it."

"That's… logical. It's a good thing he did. Who would do something like this?" Sora sounded shaken.

"Not one of the other boys." The Dragon Master sounded truly upset and they all looked at him, surprised. "The other boys… filled with jealous anger, they could easily strike out at Roxas. If Roxas died in a tragic accident, Axel might choose a new partner from them. But to harm a dragon…" The Dragon Master shook his head and the other Dragon Knights could easily follow his logic. Even the most jealous boy wouldn't hurt Axel. That would just be stupid, since they all desperately wanted a dragon and small though the chances might be, Roxas' death would give them a chance.

"There is something almost deranged about this." Vincent said after a moment and Sora blinked, an arrested expression crossing his face. "Sora? You've thought of something?"

"Um… maybe." Sora swallowed and looked at the grey haired Dragon Master. "I mean no offense sir." He said carefully and the Dragon Master lifted an eyebrow at him. "But perhaps we've been looking at the wrong age range. My aunt had a brainstorm when she was, um, around your age." Sora blushed as the Dragon Master waited patiently. "She had no self control after that. Most of the time she was fine but sometimes she just… did what she wanted. And if what she wanted was to take off all her clothes and run down the hall, she would."

"I remember that." The Dragon Master was smiling now in remembrance. "I think it traumatized half the boys in the Keep. You think that someone might be suffering such an ailment?" The Dragon Master rubbed his chin as Sora nodded. "It's possible. It might explain the use of the Hex berries. Not many of the younger boys would know that the dragons eat them." Then he frowned. "It's all the more urgent that we keep our investigation secret."

"Sir? Why is that?" Quistis asked and he gave her a sad smile.

"Because if Sora is correct, whoever is doing this is my age or older. He or she has probably given us decades of hard work, and has a family in the Keep. We should not shame them unless we have to." The Dragon Master said firmly and Sora winced. Vincent nodded thoughtfully as Quistis frowned. "True, this person must have harbored bitterness for many years, but having thoughts and feeling is not a crime. We need to find out who this is so we can have them examined by the healers to determine what would be best."

"Yes sir." Put that way, they could all understand the need for secrecy. Sora could remember how difficult dealing with a brainstorm had been for his aunt's family and could imagine how much worse it would have been if she had done something malicious instead of just immodest. "We should see if anyone was lingering around the food longer than they should have." Vincent said thoughtfully. "Chaos only said that she hadn't seen any of the boys there." He hadn't thought to ask his dragon about the older staff and Chaos knew they were searching for someone in Roxas' age range. The Dragon Master nodded.

"That would be a good first step. Please, find the perpetrator as soon as you can." Taking that for a dismissal, the three Dragon Knights left the room. When they were gone the Dragon Master looked out the window again. "Someone my age…" He frowned, hoping the Knights found the poisoner soon.

Someone his age would be far more dangerous than a jealous boy.

* * *

Roxas sighed, watching his breath puff out in the cold night air.

It was very late for him to be wandering the halls, but he'd found he couldn't sleep. Strange thoughts and urges were pricking at him like an itch he couldn't scratch. Most of the time he was exhausted from the work in the stables and had no trouble sleeping, but today the workload had been strangely light. So now he was left with more energy than he could stand.

Aimless wandering brought him near the stables. All the dragons were safely asleep and for a moment, Roxas wished he could go visit Axel. But the red dragon would be asleep. This really wasn't –

Roxas froze as he heard an odd sound. A muffled gasp? It hadn't sounded like a dragon. He hesitated a moment then carefully went to investigate. The soft sounds were coming from behind the wood pile. Roxas tentatively peered past it.

Shock froze the blond in place as he saw the brown haired boy lying on a warm sheepskin blanket, seemingly oblivious to the cold morning air. A small part of his brain that was still functional realized it was Sora, Sora and a silver haired boy who could only be Riku. Riku rubbed his body slowly against the Dragon Knight and whispered something in Sora's ear that made the brunette smile. Then Riku ducked his head, finding a nipple and slowly mouthing the sensitive nub of flesh –

Roxas stumbled away, just barely remembering to move quietly. The two lovers didn't notice, too caught up in each other to care about such minor things as a bit of noise. Roxas found himself in the stables, moving towards Axel's stall.

"Axel?" He whispered, touching the red dragon's head. The stable was very warm and comfortable, thanks to the magically heated stone. "Axel?" The dragon's snores stuttered a moment and a large green eye slowly opened.

"Roxas?" Axel yawned and blinked as he realized it was still dark. "What's wrong?" Roxas blushed and shook his head.

"Nothing. Can I stay here with you tonight?" Somehow, the thought of going back to his lonely bed was just too much. He wanted to be with someone, if only to be held. The dragon looked mystified but nodded.

"Sure, if you want." Roxas settled down beside Axel and sighed as a scaled wing slid over him, sheltering him like a precious egg. The blonde refused to think about what he'd seen and concentrated on the warm body beside him and the spicy, smoky smell that was Axel.

There would be plenty of time to think about that in the morning.


End file.
